On June 24, Left Unity members met in conference to consider the way ahead in the next period. Members are aware of the powerful forces pulling the party to the right. But conference revealed a struggle over whether the party should respond by moving to the right or shifting to the left. The general election sharpened up the issues. Should Left Unity carry on as before, or join the ‘Corbyn revolution’, or become the party of ‘democratic revolution’?

A resolution from Birmingham says: “The ‘Corbyn revolution’ has for the foreseeable future closed the electoral space to the left of Labour.” It has “unleashed expectations which can’t be met within the confines of the existing structures of the Labour Party”. This will spill onto the streets, in campaigns and communities. Like a whirlpool, this ‘revolution’ is pulling LU down the plug. Continue reading “TWO REVOLUTIONS?”

Ian Allinson, the grassroots socialist candidate for Unite General Secretary, argues that McCluskey’s fudge on free movement stops him effectively defending members from the damage caused by Coyne’s attack on workers’ rights to free movement and equal treatment.

We are posting the following letter by Steve Freeman of the Left Unity Party and RISE which addresses some of the politics underlying Brexit.

LITTLE ENGLAND

The iconic picture of Trump with Farage reveals a certain truth about Brexit. Here we have a glimpse of reality, entirely absent from the Tory referendum. We can invent our own dialogue. Farage says: ‘Donald, I am handing you the UK on a plate.’ Trump, thumbs up, replies: ‘Thanks. I’ll take Scotland as my golf course, the NHS and more tax breaks for American multinationals. I want free trade deals to benefit America and no more wind farms.’Continue reading “LITTLE ENGLAND”

For months, the junior doctors of the National Health Service have stood firm in the face of an onslaught from the Conservative government in Westminster. Socialized medicine works and, indeed, it is extremely popular. With a national health service, access to medical care is free and available to all. Everyone has the right to see a doctor when sick and for periodic preventative check-ups. Yet years of underfunding have taken their toll. Doctors are overworked and stressed out. It can take several months to get an appointment to see a consultant. There are also too few nurses and support staff, so those providing care are harried and unable to give the careful attention patients need.Continue reading “SUPPORT THE JUNIOR DOCTORS”

There are several important features to the political landscape we can currently see in Scotland and the wider UK. One key feature is the shock that the ‘Yes’ campaign gave to the British ruling class and, in particular, to their representatives in the mainstream unionist parties.

The referendum campaign had conjured up a ‘democratic revolution’, beyond either the control of Westminster or Holyrood. Voter registration was 97% and voter participation was 85%. Scotland experienced a wave of public meetings, canvassing, street stalls and cultural events, along with a huge volume of electronic correspondence and face-to-face conversations throughout the campaigning period.

Penny Cole of ‘A World to Win’ reports on the Radical Independence Campaign conference held in Glasgow on November 22nd. This is followed by the talk given by Angharad Tomos of Cymdeithas yr Iaith/Welsh Language Society to the session on Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland.

A section of the RIC conference held in the Clydeside Auditorium on November 22nd

The appetite for political change demonstrated by the Scotland independence referendum continues undiminished as shown by two massive events on Glasgow’s riverside on Saturday.

A Scottish National Party rally packed 12,000 into the Hydro, a strange building that in daytime looks like the Michelin Man and at night glows in shifting colours like an arriving space ship.

The writer and political commentator, Gerry Hassan, has written the following letter to “Scotland’s New Radicals”, including the Radical Independence Campaign.Gerry raises some pertinent questions, so we asked him if we could repost his article. Gerry agreed. We hope to post a reply quite soon.

Gerry Hassan

Radical Scotland’s re-emergence and re-invigoration around the independence referendum has been one of the most welcome and positive occurrences for many years in Scottish politics.

Performance-related pay has become a central part go the employers’ armoury to lower pay and undermine union organisation. We are publishing the article below from the Anarchist Federation outlining the intentions of the government’s Agenda for Change in the NHS

Representatives of the approximately 20 trade unions who collectively bargain for workers within the NHS have been negotiating at length with the pay cartel. As it stands the deal on the table to “protect” Agenda for Change in England (Scotland and Wales are not affected) is:

There has been considerable interest shown in the proposed Left Unity Party in England and Wales, which it is intended to launch on November 30th. We have already posted one proposed platform – the Socialist Platform (see http://republicancommunist.org/blog/2013/08/12/5722/). In an interesting development, some members of the Republican Socialist Alliance in England are Making the Case for a Republican Socialist Platform. They argue from a similar ‘internationalism from below’ stance to the RCN.

The Chartists’ republican tricolour

A CASE FOR THE REPUBLICAN SOCIALIST PLATFORM

“British politics urgently needs a new force – a movement on the Left to counter capitalism’s crisis. If a new, networked movement of the Left could agree on some key principles, and avoid creating another battleground for ultra-left sects, it could give a voice to million … a movement uniting all those desperate for a coherent alternative to the tragedy of austerity, inflicted on this country without any proper mandate”. (Owen Jones ‘Independent’ Sunday 20 January 2013)